


Everyone Dies In The End, But Not Completely

by HellAb0ve



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-07 15:42:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15222401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellAb0ve/pseuds/HellAb0ve
Summary: There was a time when the world wasn't this bad.A time where survival hadn't been the sole purpose that kept us going; a time where we worried about turning in homework or not failing a test. It’s amazing how much things can change in the span of a couple weeks...Lance McClain is lucky to be alive. Stranded and with no possible way out, Lance decides to do something bold and a little bit crazy in order to extend the survival of his friends. Fate perhaps wasn't as kind as it could have been for the rest of the world, but it sure has something in store for him.





	1. Chapter 1

There was a time when the world wasn't this bad. 

 

_ Squish. Thump. Thump. Squish. _

 

A time where survival hadn't been the sole purpose that kept us going; a time where we worried about turning in homework or not failing a test. It’s amazing how much things can change in the span of a couple weeks. 

 

There had been no warning in the beginning. Or perhaps there had been no warnings that anyone was really looking at. The infection had been fast, with symptoms that resembled the common cold; another swine flu epidemic, another bout of Ebola, or another mad cow disease. But while the news had tried, in vain, to explain what was happening people were dying at an alarming rate. 

 

Hospitals, morgues, hell even the police stations had bodies stacked one on top of the other. Rot was just another stench that mingled in with exhaust fumes and salty air. Doctors fumbled for an answer, scientists promised a cure by the end of the month, but when it came down to it there was nothing that could be done. Especially when the dead had decided to come back to life. 

 

Come back to life was a loose phrase, it was more like the reanimation of the body. Or that’s how Pidge had put it, not that it matters much now. 

 

_ Squish. Squish. Squish. Thump.  _

 

It all sounded like a bad hollywood movie -and trust me some of us still dreamed that it was that way- but this hellhole was reality. 

Narrowing my cerulean orbs at the undead half falling in on itself and half crawling through the courtyard, I braced myself against the window ledge. In theory, I could hurtle this thing and be across the quad in fifty seconds flat. But, what worried me was the way the dead thing below moved. They didn’t all come back the same and this one, this one moved with a little more energy than a majority of the others. Though I had to admit that I had yet to see a Zom scuttle across the ground like that. It was eerie. 

 

I swallowed around the lump in my throat, clenching the window sill so hard that the tips of my tanned fingers turned white. 

 

**_Get a grip, Lance. You got this._ **

 

Taking a deep breath I swung my long legs over the edge, my sneakers barely touching the ground before I was sprinting. My arms pumped at my side, willing my legs to carry me faster as the exit past the campus dorms came into view. At first I had thought that I had gotten past the beast, outmaneuvered once again by The Great Lance McClain. But that smug feeling had started to curl into an icy dread, an ear-splitting, groaning, yelping, snarling, rumbling, grunting, snorting, howling, squelching sound erupted into the still mid-morning air.

 

“Holy quiznak!” I hissed, chancing a glance over my shoulder to see the contorted body scuttling around on the ground after me. It was much faster than the usual and for some reason that thought alone gave me more incentive to keep going. I was too beautiful to die at the hands of something so ugly! 

 

When the gates came into view, I didn’t think about the jump or the way that I had attempted at vaulting myself over a ten foot fence yet somehow I had managed to scramble up just as the thing hit the metal poles with another  _ squish _ . Dropping to the otherside, I let out a shuddering breath before taking off once again. 

 

The problem with hiding out in a dorm with two other people was that food, even though that was almost always a question on our minimal student salary before this, was an issue. There was only so much that we could find in the other dorm rooms. And I just happened to draw the short stick this morning. Well, it was more like Pidge threatened my existence if I didn’t go. The little gremlin could be just as scary as they could be pushy.

 

Muttering to myself, I made my way as carefully as I could across campus dodging the humanoid shapes that stumbled about. Perhaps all those times playing spies with my younger siblings had graced me with some ninja skills after all. 

 

_ Crunch. _

 

I froze, glancing down at the empty aluminum can that I had unknowingly stepped on. My arms shot out, standing in half a squat as I quickly looked around. There was no movement. No sound. Not even a gust of wind. Something in my gut was unsettled by that and I really didn't want to stick around to see what it could have been. Picking my way through the deserted sidewalks and other areas of the University of San Diego, I finally came to the larger street that lead into the city. Normally I would have avoided this place like Pidge when she didn't get enough food or sleep. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

 

The fringes of the city had been the first to evacuate and therefore it made the nearest shopping mall prime scavenging territory. A handful of months ago, I had never thought that I would be going into an abandoned grocery store in search of food. The place was eerie, luminescent lights blinked on and off overhead and somewhere the wind rattled a sign against the window. But there was nothing much here besides the rows of toppled goods and unkempt magazines. My eyes traced the spilled display of candies and cigarettes, obvious that I wasn’t the only one with the bright idea to come here. 

 

The chip aisle was in a state of utter destruction and it looked as of a bomb had gone off. A curse slipped from my lips as I sorted through the chaos of half-open bags. Somewhere in the back of the store, something rattled causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. Maybe I should have swept the area? Of course I should have swept the area! What kind of an idiot doesn't keep track of their surroundings? My fingers twitched at my sides, grasping at nothing but air. I didn't even have a weapon. I had been so focused on trying to find food that I hadn't thought….

 

My lips pressed together in a thin line, mentally chastising myself for the oversight. I was better than this and yet here I stood, in the middle of a depressing chip graveyard with panic rising in my chest. A gurgle followed the rattling and shuffling noises. It was getting closer. My left hand shot out and grabbed at a crushed oreo package, holding it out in front of me like it would shield me from whatever was about to turn down my aisle. 

 

The first thing I saw was the mop of grey hair and the skewed glasses perched on top of a button nose. I swallowed around the lump in my throat, looking into those clouded blue-grey eyes. Her jaw was slack, slobber dribbling down her chin and onto the gross pea-green sweater. The woman looked like someone's grandmother and in life she probably had been. Judging from her slow pace though it seemed like she had been chilling out in the Q-Mart for a while. Decay was starting to get the best of her body, joints stiff and uncoordinated as she shuffled toward me. My heart was pumping wildly and I found myself taking a step back for every one of her shuffles forward. I could outrun her easily, but I also ran the risk of causing more noise that way. Noise was a no, no. Pidge had quickly figured out that these things were attracted to loud noises like bugs to light. Moths to a flame. 

 

The oreo package in my hands began to shake and it took me a second to realize that I was the one actually shaking. Fear had wound itself so tight around me that I could barely breathe. **_Out. Get. Out._** A trembling growl came from behind me, distracting my attention from the zombified grandma. At the other end of the aisle stood an animal, emancipated with patches of skin missing and blood dripping from a set of some intimidating yellow fangs. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead and I could feel the droplets trace their way down the side of my face. Sandwiched between a dog from hell and an undead grandma, I did what any sane person would have; I threw the oreo package as hard as I could watching it sail through the air and smack Undead Granny in the face. I didn't have time to celebrate my perfect aim, the movement had propelled the dog into action and I had a handful of seconds to pull myself up the shelving. Demon fido nipped at my heels, the feeling of its it's hot breath hissing over the skin of my leg had a tremor of relief shoot through me.

**_That was too close._ **

 

I balanced on top of the shelving, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the dog’s barking and growling attracted more attention. From my elevated position I could see across the entire store, letting a small sigh of relief come from me at the sight of abandonment. The only two creepy-crawlies seemed to be right in front of me.

**_Great._ **

I was trapped up here and if I didn't think fast, Granny might figure out that she could reach me if she tried hard enough. Right now she seemed fascinated with the dog's barking which was fine by me, but at the same time it was just another thing that wouldn't last forever. I was judging the distance between this shelf and the next, trying to convince myself that I could make the jump when the metal let out a heart wrenching groan. I had seconds before the entire shelving unit collapsed under me. A high pitched whine and the ceasing of barking alerted me to the fact that the infected dog had been crushed by the metal slabs that slid out from under me. 

 

My back landed ungracefully against the metal beams, pain shooting across my nerve endings. Those were going to be some nasty bruises in the morning. The fall had me gasping for air and unable to move in those previous few seconds it took for Undead Granny to loom over me. Cracking a pained, nervous smile, I attempted to drag myself away only to realize that the pack I had been wearing was caught under a slab of metal. 

 

“Uh...we can work this out right? You don’t want to eat me! I’m not very edible ya know?” 

 

Bargaining with the dead woman was a bit depressing, even I had to admit that. My hands jerked at the straps stuck under the shelving units. My heart leapt into my throat, knowing that I was stuck and without the time to try and wiggle my way out...well it wasn’t looking too good.

 

A gust of rancid hot air blew towards me, the proximity of the Undead Granny sealed my fate. I was going to die here, amidst the broken bags of lays and knock off takis. My eyes sealed shut, unable to look at that mouth moving towards the flesh of my right leg. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meet Keith, Keith meet Lance.
> 
> General Store + Zombies = Not a great time at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why am I like this?

I waited.

 

Ready for the bite.

 

Ready for the pain.

 

But there was nothing. 

 

Slowly I opened one eye and then the other. Undead Granny let out a gurgle before the top of her head slid off and her body crumpled to the ground. 

 

“Are you alright?” 

 

A pair of long legs stood before me, clad in some sort of onyx cargo pants and I couldn’t help the way my eyes traveled the length of them; moving up the torso that was covered by a red jacket that had seen some better days before finally resting on the face. His long hair framed an angular face with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones, and the darkest pair of indigo eyes I had ever seen. For a second I forgot what he asked, too busy staring at him to make my brain function on anything else. 

 

“I uh….” I trailed off, my throat suddenly too dry to produce any sorts of words. He stooped down towards me, pulling back one of the shelves that had been the reason for my inability to move. “Thanks.” I cleared my throat, getting to my feet a bit slowly. Rubbing the back of my head, I schooled my features the best that I could trying to make it less obvious that I had been scared out of my mind. His eyes flickered across me, nodding slowly before turning around and heading down the aisle. Without thinking, my legs moved to follow him, “Wait!” I called quickly catching up with him only now noticing the mullet that he was sporting.  **_What was he? An 80’s poster child? Who the hell wore a mullet nowadays?_ ** He stopped, half turning to face me with an eyebrow arched in question. “I’m Lance. Lance McClain.” 

 

There was a long pause and for a moment I thought that he might say something, ya know dramatic silence followed by the reply. But he didn’t, he only turned with a slight huff.

 

**_Rude_ ** **.**

 

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

 

“No.”

 

“Wh-what? Why?”

 

“I’m not here to make friends, okay? I may have saved your life but that doesn’t mean I want you 

tagging along.” 

 

I sputtered, my mouth opening and closing in indignation.  **_Who did this guy think he was?_ **

 

“Saved me? Please. I totally had that covered!”

 

He snorted as he moved deeper into the store, snagging canned items off the shelves as I followed behind. He cast a quick glance back in my direction, a faint smirk curving across his lips. “Right...well whatever helps you sleep at night.”

 

My nose crinkled, lips pulling into a scowl as I stared after him, my brain too slow to come up with something witty before he was moving again. I followed, collecting extra cans and throwing them into my pack. “You know it’s really rude not to give someone your name.” 

 

Keeping my strides alongside his, I took a moment to admire the sword hanging off the holster on his left side. Probably the same thing that killed Undead Granny. “You could call it a professional courtesy, one survivor to another you know?” 

 

He stopped so fast I almost ran into him, dark blue eyes seeming to pierce right through my soul. “FINE!! If I tell you my name will you be quiet already!?”

 

“Deal.”

 

  
“Keith….Kogane.”

 

I waited a moment, contemplating the barren shelf beside me that had suddenly become interesting before I directed my attention back to him. 

 

“Huh...that wasn’t that hard was it?”

 

“I thought you said you’d shut up.”

 

“Yeah, but you didn’t say for how long.”

 

He made a disgruntled noise, heading towards the very back of the store. I kept pace, fumbling with the strap of my pack as it twisted itself across my shoulder. “Are you with a group?”

 

“Do you always talk this much?”

 

“Yes?” I paused, frowning slightly as Keith rummaged through a few drawers of a desk that most likely belonged to the manager at one point. I hovered in the doorway, my foot tapping against the tiled floor anxiously. “Look, a couple of my friends and I are holed up in my old dorm and well, my friend, they are looking for someone and I thought-”

 

“Shhhh!” Keith hissed, cutting off my explanation. His dark brows furrowed, head tilting slightly as if he were listening for something. “Do you hear that?”

 

“Hear what-?”

There was a gentle chime that rang throughout the store followed by the faint sounds of feet shuffling. I clamped my lips shut, slowly turning in my spot so that I was facing the rest of the store. I couldn’t see anyone, but that hardly meant anything given that there were rows and rows of shelving between us and the front of the store. “Hel-!”

 

A hand clamped itself across my mouth, the rough leather against my lips effectively silencing me. “Are you  _ stupid _ ?” The question breathed itself against the shell of my ear and I found myself shuddering involuntarily. The shuffling noises seemed to grow louder and Keith pulled me back into the room before taking his hand off my mouth. “Come on.” He whispered, turning to head deeper into the back area. 

 

I blinked for a second, “But the door-”

He glared at me over his shoulder. 

_ Well then, okay. _

 

I followed after him, ready to voice my concerns about us just walking into a dead end when he pushed through a pair of doors. A ladder sat on the far wall, one of those iron ones that were built into the brick of the wall. Above the ladder was a small hatch that no doubt opened to the roof. Keith proceeded up the ladder without another word and with another second of hesitation I followed up after him. 

 

The sunlight hit my face causing me to squint past the harshness of the light. It took a second to adjust and once I did it was obvious that my earlier presumption was not wrong. We were indeed on the roof, and the fresh air felt oddly amazing. In the distance there was the sound of a dog barking, shrill and yapping, almost as if it were in a panic. 

 

Keith made his way over to the very edge of the roof, looking out over the parking lot with a frown. He cursed and I made my way over beside him. Five figures dotted the parking lot, hunched and lumbering about with no real destination. It was clear that they were moving towards the store though and if things weren’t bad enough I could barely make out the silhouette of three more down the block. 

 

There was a harsh whine the pierced the air and then the barking stopped. 

 

Silence hung heavy in the air and I felt my throat constrict as panic stirred in my gut. 

“This is not good.” I breathed, barely noticing Keith who nodded gravely beside me. “You have any ideas?” I asked, taking a step away from the edge of the roof not feeling all too comfortable with standing that close to the ledge. Keith stayed put, silently observing our surroundings, his shoulders hunching a bit. I guess whatever scenario he had just thought of wasn’t a particularly good one. 

 

“I guess we could run for it.” I suggested, trying to judge the distance from here to the nearest parked car. Maybe if we jumped onto the roof of the car we could make a clean break for it. It was risky, but there wasn’t really much in the way of options at the moment. 

 

“The roof of that car seems high enough to jump down to.” I pointed towards the truck that sat in a parking spot just left of the store entrance. It would be a gamble considering how high we were and if one of us missed the landing….well I didn’t really want to think about what a mess that would be. Keith remained quiet seeming to think through my words, studying the distance between the car and the roof with about as much apprehension as I had.

 

“Alright. We’ll make our way over to that building and then, once it’s safe we can pretend this meeting never happened.” 

 

I couldn’t say that I was enthused about being out here on my own again, but his terms were reasonable. I didn’t know Keith and he didn’t know me. There was zero reason to trust him and yet…

 

I nodded, “Deal.” 

Watching as he lined himself up to jump to the car, I moved a bit to his side waiting for him to go first before following. 

 

Keith lept from the roof, colliding with the car and creating a loud thump. He slid down the front of the car, unsheathing the blade he kept at his side. The undead closest to him all turned at the same time, spurred on by the noise. It wouldn’t be long before they closed in on Keith and as good as he was, I wasn’t sure he could fend off five flesh eating monsters by himself. 

 

I took a sharp inhale, taking a couple steps back before sprinting forward. My feet left the ledge and for a second I was weightless. Then, just as quickly, my butt slammed into the metal of the truck creating a much louder bang than Keith had. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the truck began to screech. My fall had apparently been enough to trigger the anti-theft alarm and in my panic I blindly slid down the side of the truck. 

“Nice going!”   
  


“Hey! Don’t blame me, mullet!”

 

“You’re the one who tripped the alarm!” He shot back, taking a slash at the nearest biter. I grit my teeth, all too aware that I didn’t really have anything to defend myself with. The two of us moved away from the truck slightly, standing with our backs to one another as the group of undead blumbered towards us. 

My fists clenched at my side and I brought my hands up slipping into a fighting stance. It wasn’t preferable, but at least I wouldn’t go down without some sort of fight. 

 

Keith’s left foot slid forwards, prepared to strike and then there was the screeching of tires on pavement. Down the road, a vehicle turned a little too fast for comfort and the stench of burning rubber became a bit more obvious the closer it came. 

Keith slashed out with his sword, slicing through the head of the nearest undead before swinging towards another one. He either didn’t seem to notice the….was that a minivan? 

“Uh Keith…?”

 

“Little -ugh- busy here, Lance!”

 

“Uh Keith!!”

 

“Busy!!”

 

“Car!”

That seemed to get his attention and he jumped back just in time for the minivan to bulldoze into the two zombies in front of him. It was an ugly yellow color with rust around the wheels and it looked like something that had just been sitting outside for a while. The back door slid open and with it a voice that I had never been so happy to hear in my life. 

 

“Get in!” 


End file.
